Powerball winner surprises Target customers with gift cards

NORRIDGE, IL (CBS 58) – It was at the Target in Norridge where one mother says Manuel Franco gave her a gift card to the store.

He had apparently been trying to give them away but so many people thought it was a scam.

“I do want to be responsible and I do want to help out the world,” said Franco in April when he revealed he won one of the largest jackpots in history.

He made a promise.

“I plan to live my life as normal as possible,” said Franco.

So like any normal person, Franco wanted to celebrate Mother’s Day this past weekend. But, he didn’t just have his own mom in mind.

“He pointed to the phone that his friend was holding and said ‘That’s me. I was the Powerball winner in Milwaukee and I just want to give you this $200 Target gift card for Mother’s Day'," explained Nicole Domitro.

Domitro says she was skeptical about the card but decided to take it and share the story on social media.

“Half because I just wanted to share his kindness with my friends and family, but also because I kind of wanted to Google him and see if it was in fact him,” says Domitro.

So why Target?

“He said he used to work at Target and so that’s he wanted to go to Target and hand out gift cards,” explains Domitro.

Domitro says she’s not sure how many cards Franco handed out, but noticed he had another one in his hand.

“The whole reason I even wanted to share what happened was to kind of encourage friends and family that there are good people in the world,” says Domitro.

Nicole didn’t end up using the card. She says she plans on giving it to a family she feels needs it more.